Shovel Clipart

A shovel is a fundamental digging tool used for lifting and moving bulk materials. The classic shovel design consists of a broad scoop or blade with slightly flared sides affixed to a long handle for leverage. Shovel blades taper to form a point or edge that slices easily into loose matter. Various materials, blade shapes, shaft lengths, and ergonomic aids evolved to make shovels optimal for specific digging jobs. These hand tools became icons of hard work, productivity, and even groundbreaking discoveries.

History & Origins of Shovels

Primitive shovels existed over 6000 years ago as flat slabs of material manually heaped material with no shaft. Ancient Egyptians and Romans used the antecessor of the modern shovel – a broad wooden plank attached perpendicularly to a long pole. Europeans added metal edges for improved durability and digging power. Shovel design tweaks made them ubiquitous for agriculture, stonework, construction, and military entrenchment for centuries. Their symbolic meanings expanded to pioneer spirit, leadership, perseverance and progress.

Shovel Types by Purpose

Hundreds of specialized shovels excel at different tasks:

Round Point – Loosens and lifts soil effectively with its semispherical shape.

Spades – Flat bladed shovel optimized for slicing edged cuts into ground.

Trenching – Long narrow spade head for digging deep straight channels.

Scoop – Hatchet-shaped shovels catch and dump loose materials efficiently.

Shovel Blade Shapes & Styles

Blade silhouettes fine tuned for materials include:

Pointed – Triangle tops for piercing then prying free chunked matter.

Square and Rectangular – Sheer flat edges with sharp 90 degree corners.

Rounded Nose – Gradual sloping curve slides smoothly into soil.

Shovel Shaft & Handle Materials

Handles balance properties like strength, Shock absorption, insulation and adjustability:

Wood – Traditional material that’s shock absorbing though can splinter and rot.

Fiberglass – Light, tough handles withstanding heavy use minus conductance issues.

Metal – Resists breakage but transfers more vibration to user’s body. Some handles adjust length.

Plastics – Cheap versatile option for basic consumer shovels.

Shovel Size Standards

Varying shovel sizes suit adults or children and different tasks:

Shaft Length – Ranges from ~20 inches to over 5 feet depending mobility needs.

Blade Width – Spans 5 inches for scoop types to 14+ inches for mining shovels moving vast amounts.

Blade Area – Dictates approximate volume of material it can contain per shovel full.

Ergonomic Shovel Features

Specialized options reduce injury risk from repetitive shoveling:

Padding & Grips – Cushion and wick moisture from handle for blister free comfort.

Bent Shafts – Curved handles keep back straighter by allowing user to dig without bending as far.

Shovel Holsters – Wide flat surface distributes load across forearm instead of hands alone.

Shovel Clipart & Images

Shovel clip art provides simplified cartoon illustrations of shovels in action – being actively used for digging or at rest beside tool sheds or flower beds enhancing landscaping scenes. Such lighthearted vector graphics communicate concepts universally across languages and cultures.

People Digging Shovel Clipart

These active images feature faceless human forms laboring over shovels plunged into mounds of dirt, sand, or snow to represent strength, determination and perseverance. More detailed variants show correct ergonomic shoveling stances and techniques to reduce back strain. Some images incorporate comedy via exaggerated effort expressions or unlikely materials being shoveled.

Decorative Shovel Clipart

Purely ornamental shovel motifs decorate frames, wreaths, garlands, and ornamental structures in manners synonymous with gardening and farming themes. These illostrations portray shovels as delicate accents rather than rugged functional tools when rendered as miniatures, mosaics, flowers, doodles, or crystalline ice shapes. Decorative classifications also include shovels anthropomorphized with smiling faces on the scoops or dancing as snowman limbs during winter seasons for holiday materials.

In this page clipartix present 61 shovel clipart images free for designing activities. Lets download Shovel Clipart that you want to use for works or personal uses.